Case Study

Moving a UK building society to a secure, cloud-first future.

Explore how we helped a long-established UK building society move off ageing, on-premise infrastructure to a resilient, cloud-first platform - without compromising its regulatory standing.

About

A cloud-first future, built on solid ground.

A long-established UK building society partnered with Evolution Group to design and deliver a Cloud, Architecture and Technology Strategy - a comprehensive five-year roadmap to move away from legacy, on-premise infrastructure and adopt a modern, cloud-first approach.

The strategy was built to meet regulatory requirements, enhance resilience, and deliver better digital experiences for customers and employees alike. As a highly regulated mutual, the Society needed a pragmatic, risk-managed plan that balanced ambition with operational feasibility.

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project at a glance

Industry

Financial services - UK building society

A long-established, highly regulated mutual operating under PRA and FCA oversight.

Scale

Five-year transformation roadmap

An enterprise-wide estate modernisation spanning infrastructure, telephony and procurement.

Duration

2023–2026

Roadmap to 2029 delivered as a phased programme designed to reduce disruption and enable incremental adoption.

Results

Board-approved, de-risked estate

A clear, governed path off ageing infrastructure and into Azure-native services.

Our Approach

We combined strategic advisory with hands-on delivery planning - defining the target architecture, then mapping a realistic route to reach it.

PHASE 1

Assessment

We began with a full assessment of an ageing IT estate - heavily reliant on on-premise VMware, legacy telephony and ageing hardware - to understand the constraints, costs and risks.

Reviewed the legacy estate, technical debt and rising support costs
Assessed resilience and regulatory gaps against PRA and FCA expectations
Engaged executives, IT teams and regulatory functions to build buy-in

PHASE 2

Strategy & Roadmap

We defined clear cloud principles and governance, then built a phased five-year roadmap that balanced ambition with operational feasibility.

Defined cloud-first principles, standards and governance
Built a phased, board-approved five-year roadmap
Established a SaaS-first procurement model for agility and cost transparency

PHASE 3

Migration & Modernisation

With the strategy approved, we set the path for delivery - a phased migration that reduces disruption and enables incremental adoption of cloud-native services.

Defined the VMware-to-Azure migration path
Planned the transition to Microsoft Teams Phone
Positioned the Society for Azure-native analytics and AI/ML

Result

A de-risked estate and a clear path to 2029.

The engagement gave the Society a board-approved cloud and technology strategy, and a clear path away from ageing infrastructure. By defining cloud principles, governance and a phased roadmap, we de-risked the estate and strengthened regulatory alignment, resilience and PRA/FCA standing.

By 2029, the Society will have completed its VMware-to-Azure migration, fully adopted Teams Phone, and embraced Azure-native services - including analytics and AI/ML - to improve customer insight and operational agility.